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Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory, 1793-1815 Hardcover – May 21, 2014

by Roger Knight (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 89 ratings
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From Roger Knight, established by the multi-award winning The Pursuit of Victory as 'an authority ... none of his rivals can match' (N.A.M. Rodger), Britain Against Napoleon is the first book to explain how the British state successfully organised itself to overcome Napoleon - and how very close it came to defeat For more than twenty years after 1793, the French army was supreme in continental Europe. How was it that despite multiple changes of government and the assassination of a Prime Minister, Britain survived and eventually won a generation-long war against a regime which at its peak in 1807 commanded many times the resources and manpower? This book looks beyond the familiar exploits (and bravery) of the army and navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It shows the degree to which, because of the magnitude and intensity of hostilities, the capacities of the whole British population were involved: industrialists, farmers, shipbuilders, gunsmiths and gunpowder manufacturers. The intelligence war was also central; but no participants were more important, Knight argues, than the bankers and international traders of the City of London, without whom the armies of Britain's allies could not have taken the field. ROGER KNIGHT was Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum until 2000, and now teaches at the Greenwich Maritime Institute at the University of Greenwich. In 2005 he published, with Allen Lane/Penguin, The Pursuit of Victory: the life and achievement of Horatio Nelson, which won the Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military History, the Mountbatten Award and the Anderson Medal of the Society for Nautical Research. The present book is a culmination of his life-long interest in the workings of the late eighteenth-century British state. 'Occasionally a work of history changes entirely and forever our perception of the past. Roger Knight's Britain Against Napoleon does just that' - History Today 'Knight manages not only to convey the magnitude of the war but make this absorbing book an essential addition to the history of the Napoleonic Wars' - Ben Wilson, Sunday Telegraph (Book of the Week) 'It is a rare gift to tell you things that you didn't want to know in a compelling manner, and Knight has that gift in spades. There is scarcely a wasted sentence here, not a duff page, not a chapter that does not bring you very close to the realities of total war and the justice of Knight's claims' - David Crane, Spectator
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  1. Print length
    720 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Global
  4. Publication date
    May 21, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 2 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    184614177X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1846141775
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

‘Occasionally a work of history changes entirely and forever our perception of the past. Roger Knight's Britain Against Napoleon does just that’ History Today‘It is an enormous canvas, yet Knight manages not only to convey the magnitude of the war but make this absorbing book an essential addition to the history of the Napoleonic Wars. Above all this is a book about the forging of modern Britain. The government machine and the private sector were forced under pressure of war to become more efficient and to work together’ Ben Wilson, Sunday Telegraph‘A wonderfully disorienting read. Knight is just about prepared to give the great names in the drama their walk-on parts, but for him the real heroes of the struggle against Napoleon are not Wellington or Nelson or Collingwood or Cochrane, but the clerks and administrators and 'silent men of business' who put Britain's armies in the field and kept her ships at sea and her allies in funds and who ultimately won the war ... There is scarcely a wasted sentence here, not a duff page, not a chapter that does not bring you very close to the realities of total war and the justice of Knight's claims’ David Crane, Spectator

About the Author

Roger Knight was Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum until 2000, and now teaches at the Greenwich Maritime Institute at the University of Greenwich. In 2005 he published, with Allen Lane/Penguin, The Pursuit of Victory: the life and achievement of Horatio Nelson, which won the Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military History, the Mountbatten Award and the Anderson Medal of the Society for Nautical Research. The present book is a culmination of his life-long interest in the workings of the late eighteenth-century British state.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Global; First Edition (May 21, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 720 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184614177X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846141775
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.76 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 2 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 89 ratings

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R. J. B. Knight

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
89 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Robert G. Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars For Patrick O'Brian readers
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014
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Of the cottage industry that has grown up around the Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander series, this book, though maybe not intended to be so, is the best I've seen. It's a little dry and technical at times, but if you want to stand on the quarterdeck with Captain Aubrey and Steve Maturin and see the world as they saw it, this book will get you there.

For anyone impressed with the gigantic American mobilization effort in WW2, as in Maury Klein's "A Call To Arms", the British faced an even bigger existential threat from Napoleon. Where the Americans simply outproduced everyone, the British had to invent from scratch the ways and means to defeat an enemy much more powerful than themselves. The book is a behind the scenes look at how the British managed to accomplish this, and by doing so, create the template for the modern world.
16 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing story of success under pressure
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2015
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First class. Holistic look at the personalities, process models, cultural, class, technologies and successful modus operandi which evolved very quickly when Britain's basic survival was at least as endangered as right after Dunkirk. An amazing story of success under pressure. The writing is acceptable, the research astounding, but the soaring breadth sets it apart from the usual niche history books being written today.
5 people found this helpful
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Warren Dalzell
4.0 out of 5 stars Knight masters his vast subject well. The political, ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2017
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Knight masters his vast subject well. The political, social, organizational and industrial themes are well developed. Technology, money and logistics are key drivers in the first fullscale industrial war. From a military standpoint, the last years of the war are skimmed over, but these are well known. Some surprises - e.g. the ability and contribution of Spencer Perceval. An important book of the period.
3 people found this helpful
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Betty Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars very detailed,concise and very readable
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2014
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the book presents the extraordinary efforts made by the British to defeat Napoleon in conjunction with its on/off allies.
The book's value lies in the description not of campaigns and battles but in the politics,economics and finances needed to support the Navy and the various armies.It clearly indicates the folly of attacking Russia leading to Napoleon's defeat in Europe.
5 people found this helpful
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Martin S Barnes
3.0 out of 5 stars HEAVY ON ADMINISTRATION ORGANIZING
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2014
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THIS BOOK IS INTERESTING HEAVY ON DETAILS, DIFFICULT TO DEFINE A CONSISTENT THREAD, AS YOU HEAD TROUGH THE YEARS OF THIS WAR. ENGLISH LEADERSHIP SHOWS FLEXIBILITY, MOTIVATION IN DEFEATING NAPOLEON. THIS BOOK IS A GOOD UNDER PINNING TO THE USUAL BATTLE BOOKS, HERE YOU LEARN THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIP BUILDING SUPPLIES, THE TRAINING OF CREWS FOR SHIPS. THE FINANCING IN EARLY 19 TH CENTURY OF TOTAL WAR. SOMEHOW ALTHOUGH HEAVY YOU CAN'T PUT IT DOWN. THERE ARE CONTINUOUS PARALLELS TO MODERN WAR, THEN YOU CAN ONLY ADMIRE THE BRITISH FINAL SUCCESS IN 1815. PERHAPS NAPOLEON LOST BECAUSE HE DID NOT HAVE THE BACK UP SYSTEM OF THE BRITISH. REMINDS ME OF USA IN 1942, ROOSEVELT'S SPEECH TO CONGRESS "THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY. WHERE BUSGET DETAILS FOR WW2 WERE SET OUT.
8 people found this helpful
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Charles Vasey
5.0 out of 5 stars The First Great War
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2021
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All wars are more than just mud, blood, rapine, slaughter, and a dash of glory. They also have a layer of administration, finance and logistics: the dark arts of war practicised often by very small key teams especially in the pre-industrial age. In the wars against France and the Corsican Ogre Britain benefitted from being into the industrial age before its foe or its allies. Even so mustering, financing, building, repairing and supplying so huge a force as the Royal Navy is an almost miraculous achievement. Roger Knight as the David Attenborough of Navies shines his line carefuly and persuasively item by item. Wonderful.
2 people found this helpful
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DanNn
5.0 out of 5 stars Très intéressant !
Reviewed in France on March 20, 2020
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Très intéressant !
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William S. Fletcher
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommendable for anyone interested in a new perspective on Britain's War effort against Napoleon
Reviewed in Australia on April 12, 2014
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This is a very interesting book. I feel that it suffers the slightest bit though from it's repetitive nature. It is split into time periods and goes through the same aspects therefore a couple of times. This took away slightly from the enjoyment of reading it. Don't get me wrong though. It's a very interesting way to look at that particular war effort. Highly recommendable.
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Peter Hobday
5.0 out of 5 stars HOW BRITAIN'S UNSUNG HEROS DEFEATED NAPOLEON
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2016
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Roger Knight has done a great service to those of us interested in the 18th century, especially the long wars with Republican and then later Imperial France under Napoleon. So much is written about the soldiers and sailors heroic deeds, while the biographies of the politicians add a human dimension to the decision making process, the battles for party and national interest, and how they grappled with the sheer complexity of events at a time of doubtful intelligence, delays in communications, and the fog of war which enveloped so many countries and territories. Knight's book looks at the men we have hardly heard of, the logistics planners ,the shippers, victuallers, the manufacturers, in short all the back room boys who made it all happen to help Britain cope, then survive, then triumph in the first global conflict. Well written, well structured and well worth the effort of adsorbing the detail that he has put before us.
8 people found this helpful
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J. Farrant
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and readable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2014
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Well written and the book gives the amount of factual detail that the title implies. A good addition to the other works that deal with the period.
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